Big money up for votes at Scituate town meeting

Mary Whitfill The Patriot Ledger thelittlewreck

Thursday

Nov 8, 2018 at 12:25 PMNov 8, 2018 at 6:50 PM

SCITUATE — Town meeting voters next week will decide on spending to repair the water treatment plant, fix coastal infrastructure, improve Roach Field parking and build a new playground at the Wompatuck School.

The special town meeting will be held at 7 p.m., Wednesday, Nov. 14 in the Scituate High School Gymnasium, 606 Chief Justice Cushing Highway.

Voters will be asked to spend $1.25 million to replace the sand filter system at the water treatment plant, which would require taking the plant offline for two to three months. The funding would pay for the new system and temporary filters for two wells that will serve as substitutes while the plant is offline.

Another $4,000,000 request is coming courtesy of four winter storms over the past six years that badly damaged sea walls and revetments along the coast. The money would be used to design, engineer and permit repairs along First, Second and Third Cliffs, Turner/Oceanside and Minot, Glades and Egypt beaches. Selectmen said much of the money will be reimbursed by the Federal Emergency Management Agency. Any of the $4 million that remains after reimbursements could be used to begin construction.

Projects recommended by the Community Preservation Committee total nearly $1 million and include work at three sites around town. The committee is asking for $80,000 to refurbish a parking area and add parking spots at Roach Field off Beaver Dam Road; $270,000 to install modern playground equipment and add a disability-accessible walkway to the Wompatuck School; and $609,000 to buy 4.79 acres of land on Sunset Road.

The property, known as MacDonald Farm, is privately owned and sits between the Scituate Maritime Center and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Marine Operations Center. The town has no immediate plans for the space, but selectmen say the property could be used for conservation, open space, accessible pathways or maritime education.

Scituate residents will also make a decision about two environmental proposals: one would ban single-use plastic bags and one would bring the Community Choice Aggregation program to Scituate, which allows towns to switch customers using basic electricity service to cleaner energy.